Important Update for Graduating Students at UT Dallas

Important Update for Graduating Students at UT Dallas

This message was sent to our community earlier this morning using our mobile messaging alert systems.

As our community by now may know, on Thursday, May 9, 2024, the IANT Operations Council and our General Counsel, Br. Khaled Hamideh (collectively, IANT Leadership), met with officials from the City of Richardson and UT Dallas at IANT to discuss the arrest of student and faculty protestors at UT Dallas who were protesting against the genocide of Palestinians. These conversations extended into the weekend. While IANT Leadership will share a more substantive debrief of the meeting within the next 24-48 hours, the following is an urgent message to students that arose during late-night communications between UT Dallas administration and IANT Leadership on Sunday, May 12.

First, as part of what IANT Leadership advocated for in our first meeting with UT Dallas administration (UTD), UTD will permit the keffiyeh and/or the Palestinian flag to be worn consistent with other adornments to academic regalia . . . (i.e., draped around the neck). UTD also noted that students are encouraged to decorate their mortar boards for their ceremonies. This was confirmed with UTD in a phone call between UTD and a member of the operations council earlier this morning (the Call).

Second, UTD, in a communication to IANT Leadership on Sunday, advised IANT Leadership of demonstrations at UT Austins graduation ceremonies, especially one wherein a student unraveled the Palestinian flag but refused to move despite requests from officials and was eventually escorted off by law enforcement, potentially subjecting the student to disciplinary sanctions. During the Call, IANT Leadership noted that expecting no demonstrations from students during graduation was unreasonable. In that same communication on Sunday and during the Call, UTD informed IANT Leadership that students may unravel the flag as they walk across the stage but must continue walking if instructed to do so or potentially face disciplinary action.

Regardless of whether IANT Leadership agrees with this policy, at this point, and given the proximity to graduation ceremonies, we wanted to relay these conversations to our community members.

Again, we will release a more thorough breakdown of our conversations to date with UTD. This message is only an interim update.

Islamic Association of North Texas, 840 Abrams Road, Richardson, Texas 75081, United States